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Sharing

29 Feb 2008

I've written this over and over and keep coming back to one basic theme. Sharing.

There will aways be countless techniques and "how to" topics. They're endless, but they all have a common ground. The camera.

I'm always learning about new things. It's cool. But the one thing that is most important to me is knowing how an image was shot. All the other knowledge and techniques start at that point. But first I need to know what camera, what lens, what settings, etc.....

Let me give you an example of why it's important to share what you shoot with. If I shoot with a Polaroid land camera that spits out the image right then and there, I will then have to scan it. Great. After that, technically, it's over. In all fairness, to even "correct" color or contrast would be way over manipulating, simply because the land camera "look" has been "coined". There's even software that will recreate the land camera look. That's how prolific that camera was in its' day.

So, again, why is that important? By sharing what you shot with, the viewer can understand the how and the why. Or at least have a starting point. Without that starting point, everything else is out of place.

Sorry this isn't an exciting little story. But it's important. And besides, it can be inspiring for those that have humble gear. Seeing great work done with the same gear we have reinforces that we can do it too. And, for those that are fortunate to have the "big guns", it can be humbling, showing that the gear doesn't make the image. Hopefully they meet in the middle and in the mean time help promote the basics so we can all enjoy the digital world.